It's always nice to have a DAY OFF...  :-)

So here I am, actually sitting at home today because there is no teaching for me.  Surprised but in a way grateful that I get a break in the middle of the week.  I have started a new teaching placement in Bexhill as of yesterday and that has turned out to be very interesting.

Bexhill High School reminds me of home a bit in certain ways but is it ever HUGE!!!!  The high school was built in 2010 and because it is brand new, there are so many opportunities for students throughout the school.  They have many "radical" ways of teaching here which I'm not used to but it's good to do something different - have a nice change of pace.  There are notebooks (computers) for every student in every classroom and keep in mind their class sizes are anywhere from 75 - 100 students per class.  As I discovered yesterday, the classes are so big because there are 3 classes of 30+ in one classroom at a time so it almost looks like a lecture hall in a huge room.  There are students everywhere and now I understand why there is so much "team teaching".  If there weren't a teacher per class in the classroom at once, it would be uncontrollable.  But what a difference from Tideway (school I was at the last 2 weeks) -- the students at Bexhill are SO well behaved and they do NOT put up with ANY nonsense or behavioural instances.  These students are so focused and they really participate (depending on the class of course).  MUCH MUCH different than the other 2 schools that I have been at but it's refreshing to not have to be trying to control or yell at the students to get them to be quiet.

I am teaching English so I have met quite a few teachers already and surprisingly enough, I am not actually teaching, I'm pretty much just supervising certain sections of the classes for now at least.  I did ask eventually if they need me to teach and they said probably not so it would be nice to have the opportunity to do so but we'll see.  Oh, and the technology at this school is phenomenal.  Like I said, each student has pretty much a small notebook to use if they need to, the teachers use a SmartBoard (interactive whiteboard), touchscreen tv screens and so many other things.  There are so many possibilities for the teachers as well as the students to really expand their thinking and comprehend things on a level that they understand.  That in itself, makes me excited to be at this school so let's hope they give me the opportunity of helping out with English or even Music as they have a pretty large program.  We'll see what comes out of this school.

The rest of the week, I have work and believe it or not, I am teaching from 11:30am - 5pm tomorrow so it's going to be a long day.  The good thing is that I've already met a teacher who has been willing to pick up/drop off me and another teacher to the train station as it's a 30 minute walk to the school from the train station.  So that was definitely much more comforting to know.  Never hurts to ask...

Anthony is at school today and I'm sure he's having an interesting day so it should be interesting to hear his adventures and stories once he gets home.  I've been trying not to sit around all day doing nothing as I get bored (that's not a big surprise for those of you who know me)...LOL...but I managed to go into Brighton to get some things done and hit up Poundland again (dollar store) to kill some time.  I had to wake up early this morning and get ready as though I had school this morning because you never know if they will call you to quickly go in somewhere.  When I got back from town, the house was still rocking and the fog has rolled in so it's not even like I could sit outside to enjoy the 12 degree weather...but I managed to find something to do and vacuumed, did the dishes, cleaned the bathroom, washed the floors, windexed everything, moved around some furniture, reorganized the closet, and now write this blog.  I would consider that a pretty productive day!  But it's still only 3:00pm so Anthony should be home within the next hour or so.

We do have plans for tonight though - we got an email from one of the pastor's at St. Peter's and they are starting their hubs tonight so we've been invited to go.  It's like a small group at home so it's nice to finally be involved in something again.  I think it's really important that both Anthony and I get to know some people from the church and get involved in some way so we'll see where this takes us.  It's all so new to us but the hubs only meet fortnightly so that will be nice.  Tonight we don't even have to make dinner -- Anthony will be happy! LOL...

Recommendations:

If you haven't already you should see LIFE OF PI and LINCOLN -- fantastic movies!!!


More words learned to date:

Crisps = chips
Muffins = muffins (that doesn't make much sense does it since english muffins are called muffins too)
Oatmeal = porridge or muesli
Sweets = candy/treats

More things learned to date:

Biscuits (cookies) are not charged taxes because they're not an expensive dessert but cakes are charged taxes because they're a delicacy...so weird!

"You doing alright?" means "how are you?"  -- still not used to that yet

"Oh blimy!" means "oh wow seriously?" or "oh my goodness, really?"


Thinking about everyone at home and missing you all...please feel free to keep sharing our blog!!

Till next time... xoxo